.png&width=24&type=webp)
Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
Monmouth
Players Mentioned
Strong Second Half Propels Princeton Women's Basketball to 64-56 Win at Monmouth
December 01, 2005 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 1, 2005
Box Score
WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. - Meagan Cowher enjoyed her fourth straight game with double-digit points and Becky Brown led the Tigers with 17 as the Princeton women's basketball team (3-2) carried a double-digit lead over Monmouth (1-4) for most of the second half on Thursday night in a 64-56 win at the Hawks' Boylan Gym.
Cowher had 15 points one game after her 25-point effort against Central Florida. Over the last four games, Cowher has poured in 64 points for an average of 16 a game. Katy O'Brien also finished with 15 against the Hawks, all from beyond the arc, while Jessica Berry hit double-digits for the third game in a row with 12 on Thursday. With her 17 points and 10 rebounds, Brown earned her second double-double of the young season and ninth of her career.
Princeton shot 56 percent in the second half and 46.8 percent for the game, improving its percentage 20 points over the first half while Monmouth stayed nearly the same, hitting on 37.5 percent of its attempts over the contest. The instant offense out of the locker room enabled the Tigers to increase their five-point halftime lead to 10 by the 13:35 mark of the second half, building it as high as 14 at 59-45 with 4:55 left in the game. Monmouth never got closer than seven the rest of the way.
Princeton was outrebounded by one, 34-33, but nullified that small advantage with more precise shooting across the board. In addition to the edge in overall percentage, the Tigers hit twice as many three-pointers as Monmouth, 6-3, and made 14 free throws to Monmouth's 11 while earning twice as many trips to the line. That made the Hawks' superior 91.7 percent shooting from the line (11 for 12) go for naught in the loss. Though both teams started slowly, Monmouth had a four-point lead at 8-4 with just under 13 minutes left in the first half and Princeton used a 10-0 run over three and a half minutes to take a six point lead at 14-8, its largest of the half. From there, neither team was able to hold momentum into the break as Monmouth never let the Princeton lead grow to more than five as the Tigers took a 27-24 advantage into the locker room.
The back-and-forth nature of the first half was represented in the box score as neither team held a distinct statistical advantage. Princeton outshot Monmouth, but only by four-tenths of a percent, 36.4 to 36.0. The Tigers also outrebounded their hosts, but by just two, 17-15. Monmouth had one more turnover than Princeton, 11-10. The Hawks finished the game with 19 turnovers to 17 for Princeton.
With the win, the Tigers have won three of their first five games for the first time since the 2001-02 season, Richard Barron's inaugural year on Old Nassau. Princeton returns home to face Colgate on Saturday at 7 p.m.